


Shooting Stars

by Arvalee Knight (AvaWhiteRaven), AvaWhiteRaven



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 22:07:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13890105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaWhiteRaven/pseuds/Arvalee%20Knight, https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaWhiteRaven/pseuds/AvaWhiteRaven
Summary: You’re a broke college student and an excessive gamer. You try to do the right thing... for the most part. But learning how to be an adult has its unexpected moments. You find yourself in quite the situation and end up a part of some charity organization called the RFA... You can only hope to balance your college life and the drama unfolding.





	1. Chapter 1

“Is our healer AFK again? I swear to god… They’ve spent the whole night just standing there.” You smashed the keyboard, spamming spells and drinking down potions as quickly as you could. Your team was just barely making it through the dungeon alive.

The tank spoke up, health just above fifty percent thanks to his armor and stats, “Kick them. We’ll find a different healer.”

The rest of the team wasn’t doing so well. If it weren’t for their healing spells, they might not have lasted as long as they did. You groaned and kicked the unfamiliar healer off the team. You hated working with strangers. You never knew if they were there to steal experience or actually make an effort.

Your phone vibrated and you glanced down just in time to see the strange notification. You rolled your eyes back to the computer, smashed your attacks, before unlocking your phone and reading the strange text. One of the games you downloaded finally installed on your phone.

You focused back on the team, stacking your best spells and killing off the remaining horde. You threw your hands in the air. “Thank god that’s over.”

“Just barely… That was the roughest one yet.” He led the team over to the chest and sorted out of the loot. “Thanks for the hard work everyone!”

Their avatars left the dungeon, all except you and the tank, Superman Yoosung. You were guild members, having met years ago when you both had started out as noobs. He was one of the highest leveled characters. Probably the most respected too.

You smiled at the screen. Talking with him always brightened your day. “Well? Did you get the new piece?”

He chuckled, suddenly boyish and sweet. “Yes! I’ve been trying to get this for days. Thanks for helping out. What about you?”

You groaned and pressed your elbows onto the desk. “Not yet… I might try again tomorrow but I’ve really got to study.”

He groaned as well. “Don’t remind me…”

You knew it was a sore subject for him. You quickly diverted the conversation to anything else, “I finally got a hold of a bag of Honey Buddha chips this morning! I went to the store at midnight last night just as they opening the box!”

“What! No way. I should try that… maybe I’ll head there in a few hours and see if they have some in stock.”

“Ask them when their truck comes in. Or I could grab you a bag.” You grinned haughtily even though he couldn’t see it. “Just tell me where and I’ll take it to you.”

“Yes, please!” He laughed, a sound you were so addicted to. He had no idea you had such a huge crush on him. You certainly weren’t ever planning to tell him either. The two of you had never met and you weren’t sure you wanted to. What if he didn't like you the same way...

Your phone vibrated again, the same unfamiliar app. You picked up your phone and read the message. It was strange, a simple hello. It was probably a dumb choice but you replied with an annoyed question mark.

“I’ll see you later,” Yoosung added. “Maybe after you finish studying.”

You sighed. “Yeah. Give me a few hours. If I don’t pass out while reading.”

Yoosung left the dungeon and you focused back on the phone. Someone was asking you about a phone they found… You rolled your eyes. Next they used the religion card, saying they wanted to do a good deed. This sounded like a scam if there ever was one.

They pleaded with you to go to the apartment and find the owner of the phone. You pushed your lips off to the side and turned off your computer. What if someone really was missing their phone? You couldn’t imagine living without yours.

Were you really going to go through with this? You replied begrudgingly, “Fine, I’ll go. But if I sense anything fishy, I’m out of there.”

“Thanks! I’ll send you the address.”

You stuffed your phone into your purse and looked around the small one room apartment for your keys. It wasn’t the worst place to live but paying rent while trying to attend college was tedious.

You grabbed your keys from the kitchen counter and headed out the door. The address wasn’t too far, maybe a thirty minute walk. You took the train, staring at your phone with uncertainty. But the moment you stepped in front of the building you reconsidered. It was a high end apartment complex on a decent part of town. Whoever lived there must have made a lot of money. Maybe they would even pay you for being a good citizen and returning the phone.

You took the elevator up to the top floor and approached the correct door. It even had a keypad and lock. RFA was beautifully written above it. You rang the doorbell and messaged the person who sent you there.

“Looks like they’re not home.”

“Here’s the passcode. Maybe you could leave them a note.”

Your brows furrowed as you put the four digit code into the keypad. The door unlocked, your hand nervously clutching the handle. How could they know the code? Maybe you should turn back now.

You readied for anyone who might attack. But the apartment was empty as you peered through the cracked door. You stepped forward and looked about for a notepad and pen. Whoever owned the place was definitely wealthy and very busy. Folders and paperwork were organized all about the room, an expensive computer sitting centered upon the desk.

You looked down at your phone and found messages flying by, people you didn’t recognize. Jumin, 707, ZEN, Jaehee, and then there was Yoosung. It was a common name but seeing it had caught your attention for sure.

You could barely keep up with the chat room. Everyone was talking so quickly and the messages only made sense to each other. What were they even discussing… You weren't sure you cared. You were inside someone else's apartment and you needed to message that unknown person. You kept looking around the apartment, glancing down at the phone for answers.

Then they finally noticed you, your username suddenly being discussed. You stood there, clutching the phone with such nervousness. Jaehee said it was a private app that only 707 could install...

You quickly typed in “hello” wavering moments before actually sending it.

They were shocked. They couldn't believe you were a real person. 707 immediately spoke up, informing the group that he was doing a search on your location. You glanced up at the apartment, heat searing across your face and neck. If he was searching for your location, he'd find you standing inside someone else's apartment.

“Just found something. This is weird.”

You shuffled towards the door. Maybe if you left now they wouldn't know.

“I traced the IP. It's from Rika’s apartment.”

Yoosung quickly replied, “Rika’s apartment?”

“Where was it?” Jumping added calmly.

Jaehee spoke this time, “The location is not revealed. I know it to be classified.”

“Anyways someone must have broke into her apartment. It talked just now so it must be a person.”

Oh god. You pressed your hand into your forehead, brows tensing as you considered your situation. Why? What were you thinking? Of course this had all been a stupid idea. You were a stupid college student who broke into someone’s apartment and could possibly go to jail now.

Yep, they were definitely accusing you of breaking in and… being a hacker.

You tried coming up with a decent reply but then the conversation suddenly switched to ZEN’s acting career and YouTube hits. Jumin got them back on task, Yoosung demanding answers.

Seven promptly informed, “My hands are shaking as I hack.”

You drew in your bottom lip and rolled your eyes. God, your luck couldn’t get any worse. He had already hacked and revealed your location. Could he hack into your phone and discover your identity?

Jumin added quickly, “Who are you? Reveal yourself now?”

Yoosung joined in just as fast, “Yeees! Who are u?!”

“Use proper English please,” Zen retorted.

You began typing a reply, trying your best not to sound like the burglar hacker they thought you were, “Who are all of you and what is this place?” God that was embarrassingly robotic.

Seven agreed, calling you awkward.

“Should we… introduce ourselves?” Yoosung’s words made you giggle. Maybe it was the name but you couldn’t help but think of the guild member who had become such a loyal friend.

Jumin replied, “Are you serious?”

“I think it is a bit too early for that?” Jaehee skillfully pointed out.

Zen was the first to start revealing information about himself. A twenty four year old actor and quickly behind his message was a posed picture of himself. He was handsome, no doubt, and Jaehee was the obvious to fangirl over.

Seven quickly followed, twenty two year old hacker. He stated his identity was a secret but casually revealed ZEN’s real name to be Hyun Ryu. The others gladly pointed out his hypocrisy, laughter tickling out of your throat. They were all seemed like such a great family of friends.

Yoosung joyfully joined in, “I’m Yoosung Kim! I’m a college student. 21 yrs old.” He posted a picture of himself, the first time you had ever seen him. He was smiling so sweetly at the camera that a hot blush rose up along your neck.

You were almost certain this Yoosung was the same as the one on LOLOL.

You didn’t have much time to enjoy the thought. Seven was introducing Jumin as a corporate heir and Jaehee as his assistant.

Jumin wasn’t at all happy about the way everyone else was behaving towards you. Seven posted a picture of Jumin and his cat, Elizabeth 3rd, without hesitating. The corporate heir was appalled that some stranger saw Elizabeth 3rd.

They were suddenly back to you, curious as to how you could have entered the apartment. You began typing, fingers suddenly clumsy and shaky.

“I am flustered too. I was connected to a stranger through a messenger app. He sent me the address.” You groaned. You didn’t want to admit that you had followed the request of some stranger.

Jumin wistfully typed, “Chatting with a stranger… how naive.”

You wanted to sink to the floor from embarrassment.

“So cute lol,” Zen added. “Went to an address from a chatting app.”

Yoosung disagreed, underlining the message in the chat room, “Don’t listen to strangers~ The world is dangerous.”

“I agree,” was Jaehee’s only response.

“Wait.” Seven asked, “Do you have that person's username or chat record?”

“The username was ‘Unknown’. And the record was deleted.” Now you really felt stupid. How could you have done this? You were in college, a blooming adult but… this was definitely on the list of things you were never going to repeat.

You walked to the door, closed it, and sat down onto the couch. The moment your eyes returned to the chat room Seven was declaring that someone had hacked into the app.

“So he told you the passcode to the door lock?”

“Yes.” You laid down on the couch. This was so embarrassing. You could only pray now that you weren’t going to be arrested. “I only wanted to download the game and play it.”

The conversation switched again, someone named V being mentioned. Seven was planning on calling him and letting him know situation. Things were getting worse perhaps?

You typed, “What is this chat room for;;?”

Jaehee quickly chimed in,“We can answer that after we have told V about this situation.”

Jumin added a little more remorsefully than the others, “I hope V comes and takes care of all this.”

You rolled onto your back and pressed the phone to your chest. Someone who had the name “V” couldn’t be a common person. Sounded like some mob boss or a secret agent.

You checked briefly and saw that Seven was calling the man. And then a comment about hacking your phone and finding pictures of you. Your eyes widened as you sat up quickly.

“You’re not violating my…” You sent it but you already knew the answer. Seven had probably seen everything on your phone from google searches to lame selfies.

You watched for Yoosung’s reaction. He seemed just as shocked that Seven had managed to see you. He wanted to know more about you as well. God, it was so embarrassing. You could only pray that the hacker kept everything to himself.

They were all surprised you were a girl and suddenly wanted a photo of you. You pressed fingers into your skull. No, no, what if Seven chose the worst picture…

Thankfully he turned them down and jokingly posted a photo of someone else. To which Jaehee sighed about.

“That’s a photo of me…”

“Oh right!” Yoosung replied next, “Sorry I was too excited;;”

You pinched the bridge of your nose. Thank god it wasn’t your picture. You suddenly couldn’t remember all the photos on your phone. Or any of the websites you might have visited in the past few days…

You focused again on the chat room, finding that V had logged in during the chaos. They were taking now, normal pleasantries before they began dissecting the situation.

Couldn’t you just leave and pretend none of it happened? You had to get home and finish studying. Not that you were really all too eager to start but…

“Who disclosed the password for Roma’s apartment?”

“Well. No one knew the password. I don’t even know.”

Something darkened in Yoosung’s tone, ever since V logged in, “...Thought V knew. She never invited me to her apartment.”

Jumin readily agreed, “That’s the same for everyone else. No one's been there before.”

Yoosung volunteered eagerly, “Tell us the address. I’ll go there… I want to check who this person is myself. Seven, you know right? You traced the IP just now.”

“Uhm. Sorry but… I can’t tell you that.”

“?? I’m her surviving family.”

Rika was… Yoosung’s family? You thought perhaps he had mentioned it during LOLOL once… that he lost a family member close to him. He never mentioned her name though. Gaming always too precedent, strategy and stat building…

The chat room was unrelenting. So much information that you could barely keep up. You wanted to turn your phone off and take a deep breath. But you were still inside someone else’s apartment. You couldn’t just leave. Not yet.

You learned briefly that V and Rika were in a relationship. But not even B had access to the apartment. And that there’s apparently very sensitive material inside the apartment. Maybe you watched too many movies but you prayed they didn’t kill you to keep the information a secret.

You curled up on the couch. You wanted to squeeze yourself into the corner and grow smaller and smaller…

V suddenly made a request to keep the apartment secret. No one should be allowed to know where it was. It suddenly felt overwhelming, your stomaching twisting itself into knots.

They kept talking about Rika and hosting parties… They thought perhaps Rika wanted you to be there in the apartment. It seemed absurd. You ended up there because of some stupid practical joke. Or scam. Not some dead ghost.

You typed furiously, “I just came here to find the owner of the phone… What is going on?”

“Owner of the phone? You were phished lol” Seven was probably grinning from ear to ear. “According to V’s guess… Rika, the person who used to live there, had the person ‘Unknown’ convince you to go to the apartment.”

You knew you’d been scammed but hearing someone else confirm it made it worse.

Jaehee remained suspicious. She wanted to evict you from the chat immediately. And you didn’t blame her. You weren’t exactly making the best first impression.

But V assured them that things would resolve themselves. Seven volunteered to explain Rika’s charities and the parties the RFA held to raise money. They wanted you to do the same, to take her place in reading emails and gathering guests.

You cringed and glanced about the apartment. You got yourself into the mess. The least you could do that lend a helping hand with their charities. It was for a good cause. And Yoosung… he seemed to admire the idea of helping people in need.

You offered your help a little timidly, “Alright. It looks fun. I’ll give it a go.”

Yoosung beamed, “That’s a fast decision. You must be a positive person seeing that you made your decision so fast.”

You grinned. You couldn’t help how giddy you felt.

“She may not be a careful person,” Jaehee rebutted but you didn’t care.

“Hey~ Jaehee don’t be like that.”

“It is not that.”

“I’m glad we have a girl now! It was a hopeless sausage fest until now lol” You smelted, hardly believing the Yoosun you knew would be like that. “If you have any questions I can answer them! Ask anything you need.”

No, you thought, he was definitely that sweet.

You laid down onto your side and released a yawn. It was already getting so late or rather… early. What time was it? One in the morning? Maybe two?

You read one of Yoosung’s comments, smirking at the idea, “You’re going to collect all the info so she can’t run away, right?”

Seven messages you gingerly, “This is a verbal contract so we won’t need your signature.”

Zen quickly ordered him, “Don’t collect anything without her permission!”

They all said their farewells and good lucks. You wanted to talk with Yoosung more… You forced yourself off the couch and shuffled to the door. You needed to get back home and study… and get ready for classes in the morning. Or rather, in a few hours. Maybe sleep first and then studying?


	2. Chapter 2

You returned to your apartment, kicked off your shoes, and hurried over to the pile of books waiting for you. But your eyes caught sight of your desktop computer as well. You turned it on, telling yourself that you’d only talk with Yoosung real fast before returning to your books. You had to find out if they really were the same person.

You logged into LOLOL and loaded your character into the game. The guild chat was pretty active. Apparently a new set of armor was going to be released over the weekend. You could see that he was online but you weren’t sure if he was paying attention to the guild’s conversation.

You sent him a private message. “Yoosung…”

“Hey! Wanna take on that dungeon? I can get a team together.”

You giggled. Of course that’s all he cared about. So typical but that's why you liked him. “I had a question…” You bit your bottom lip.

Waiting felt like forever. Why was he taking so long to reply? Were you being invasive? The two of you had known each other for years so it wasn’t usual to ask questions…

“Sure, what’s going on?”

Your heart was racing suddenly. You typed in the sentence carefully, painfully so aware of every letter. “Do you happen to belong to any organizations?” No. God, no. You deleted it. That sounded stupid. How were you supposed to find out for sure if they were the same person…

“Do you know anyone named Rika?” You stared at it. Could you send that? Would that be too shocking? Too forward? Rika seemed to hold importance to him and might cause some panic.

You deleted it and quickly typed, “I just joined this charity organization and one of the members has the same name as you.” You sent that instead and waited with clenched hands. You read what you wrote and cringed. That sounded so dumb. What if you sent “lol” to show it was funny… But now it felt like you waited too long to send it.

Yoosung made a request to join your team. You accepted it and held your breath. You could hear his words stammer as he spoke into the microphone, “Hey… So, uh, what charity did you join?”

You swallowed a sudden sickness. “RFA.”

He chuckled, his laugh causing you to smile slightly. Yoosung spoke between laughs, “I can’t… No, there’s no way.”

“I swear. I don’t even know how it got on my phone.” The fear melted. Suddenly you could breathe again. He wasn’t angry like you thought he might be. But then it dawned on you that… Yoosung, the man you had gamed with for years, was now reading your messages on the RFA as well.

His laugh suddenly faded. Perhaps he realized the same. “Wait… Are you okay being in… Rika’s apartment alone?”

You sighed and glanced about your own apartment. You didn’t want to go back to the other one. It was modern and new but… it wasn’t comfy. It didn’t feel like someone’s home. “I mean… it’s better than my place but… I kind of want to stay home. I’m a little scared being there alone.”

Yoosung sighed heavily too. “I’ll call Seven. There’s gotta be a way for you to go back home. At least for tonight.”

“Yoosung…”

He held his breath, suddenly so quiet.

“I’m glad… that you’re in the RFA. I feel safer now.” You tried to bite your smile away, clearing your throat. “I have to go and get dinner. Call me later, okay.”

Yoosung stammered, “Y-yeah! Yeah I’ll call you in a bit.”

You signed off of LOLOL. But you wish you had stayed longer. You already missed the way he talked, the sweetness in his tone. You grabbed your school bag, dropped all your books into it, and hauled it up onto your shoulder. You carried the heavy weight to the door, double checked to make sure everything was turned off and the door was locked.

You weren’t sure what your week was going to look like now that you joined the RFA as a party planner… You stared down at your feet, processing exactly what that meant… Did that mean, on top of your studies and school work, you were going to be working a full time job? Without getting paid?

You needed a drink…

~:~

The only place open that was still serving food was a ten minute walk from your apartment. You ordered a large bucket of fried chicken, grabbed some beers, and called up Yoosung. He was still on LOLOL when you left so you knew he was still awake. Most nights, the two of you could stay up until the sun rose.

“Hello?”

“Yoosung…”

“Oh, h-hey. You’re still awake… I was just about to call you but I didn’t want to wake you up and I, uh… So, are you studying right now?”

“Kind of.” You clutched your recently bought meal in your hands. “Could I stop by your place for a bit. We could help each other study and... I bought too much fried chicken…”

Yoosung stammered, words barely audible enough to understand, “You want to… come here? Uh, y-yeah I just need…” It sounded like fabric shuffling and things were being tossed. “It’s just that, I, uh--”

You nervously laughed, a little too loudly. “It’s okay if you don’t want me to come over. I shouldn’t have done that. You don’t even know me.”

“No! That’s not it… no, it’s just that… I can be a spectacular knight in the gaming world but in reality…” He cleared his throat, quietly adding, “It’s embarrassing… I’m really powerful in LOLOL but I’m not sure… you’ll like who I am when you see me.”

You were suddenly breathy, hands clammy as you held the food tighter. “It’s okay… I’m only cool in LOLOL, too. In this world I’m just a poor college student trying to get good grades.”

Yoosung breathed a sigh of relief into the phone. “I’ll send you my address…” He laughed, light-hearted and oh-so sweet, “Just don’t judge my room, okay? I forgot to clean up and I need to do my laundry but…”

Your lips pulled into a wide, giddy smile. “Yeah. I was supposed to do my laundry yesterday but I spent the whole time trying to put a raid together.” It suddenly felt so strange being able to talk openly about gaming. There was no judgement between Yoosung and you. “I’ll head over to your place. See you in a bit.”

“Y-yeah, okay! That... That’ll be really fun.” He was at a loss for words. “I guess, uh, I’ll see you soon!”

You hung up the phone as quickly as you could. You weren’t used to feeling this type of anxiety. There was a jitteriness in your steps as you walked towards the direction of Yoosung’s apartment. You were really going to see him and actually spend time with him.

You read the address he sent and then reread it in case you missed some minor detail. This was definitely not the anxiety you were used to. School work, student loans, that was one thing… Paperwork was easy to fill out. Research projects required time.

But Yoosung was this unknown factor, someone you had spent hours with but never actually met in person. You couldn’t determine how social you would be around him. Or if he would even want to have you around?

As you climbed the stairs to his apartment, you were beginning to regret having called him. You should have drank down a can of beer when you had the chance. Maybe that would have stilled your nerves.

You rang the doorbell and held your breath. Someone scurried to the door and then slowly pulled it open. You raised the bag of fried food and grinned like an idiot. “Study partner?”

He smiled and clung to the door like it was a shield. His cheeks were light dusted in a pink blush. His fingers nervously reached up to push a few loose blonde strands of hair out of his face, the barrette failing to pin them down.

You handed him the chicken and beer, trying not to look as apologetic as you felt. “We could play LOLOL together… Or I mean, you could play and I could tease you.”

Yoosung chuckled with his head dipped away. “That would be cool. I don’t know anyone who actually support my gaming… Well, except the people I game with.” He took the food over towards the small kitchenette for some plates. “I was just farming for some cash if you want to take over…”

“Hell yeah.” You dropped the heavy backpack onto his bed before walking over towards his desk. It was a pretty new computer, much faster than your own. No wonder Yoosung was so good… Plus, he always had the best advice for stats.

He set some plates down onto the desk and then the cans of beer. Yoosung pulled a chair up next to you, sitting down a little awkwardly. “I think you’re the first person to ever come over.”

You tossed him a wide-eyed smile. “Really? I’m your first?”

Yoosung stared for a moment as he licked his lips. He locked his eyes onto the computer and you wondered if he got the same jolt in his heart as you did.

You turned in the chair, knees pulled up to your chest. “Could I stay for a while… I didn’t want to go back to Rika’s apartment and you’re the only one I could talk to.”

He hummed in agreement while taking one of the drumsticks. “Everyone sort of suspected you in the beginning… and that kept bothering me. Weren’t you offended?”

You gave a shrug, eyes peering down at your knees. “I guess… I mean, I did sort appear out of nowhere.”

“I was really surprised too when you joined without Seven’s authorization. But the moment you said something, I knew you were a good person.” The light pink on his cheeks deepened to red, words suddenly softer and less confident, “I could just feel that you weren’t a bad person and would actually help us instead. Jumin will just say that’s superstitious but I really felt that.”

You leaned forward and hugged your knees to your chest. “Does your intuition tell you anything else?”

He jolted, eyebrow rising before focusing on the drumstick. He took another bite, a large mouthful that would keep him from making a comment.

You chuckled and blurted, “I can’t believe you’re farming for these stupid pearls… I know things that have a higher drop rate and sell for much more gold.”

Yoosung huffed as if he were deeply insulted. He spoke while pointing the half eaten drumstick at the computer. “I worked really hard on collecting all of that! Besides, there’s an NPC in town that buys them at a higher rate than usual.”

“What NPC?” you retorted, taking control of his character.

“It’s quest related!” He went to reach out and grab the mouse from you but you shoved him playfully away.

“I don’t believe you. I’ve never heard of an NPC that buys pearls.”

He gave a loud exasperated huff. He couldn’t believe you had the gall to challenge his knowledge of the game. But he grabbed another drumstick and watched as you teleported back to town. “Eat these before I eat them all.”

You took the chicken he offered. “You can’t distract me with food, you know.”

“I don’t need to distract you! I’ve been farming pearls for almost a year now. How do you think I got all my armor?”

“Quests…” You rolled your eyes. “You just don’t want to me to prove there isn’t a pearl NPC.”

Yoosung titled his head. “Or I’m right and you need to eat the food you bought.”

You took a good bite out of the chicken, making sure each bite was crunchy and loud. It was a small triumph.

“Over that way.” Yoosung pointed towards a gathering to NPCs and buildings all clustered into a marketplace.

You clicked on the merchant and released a slow, annoyed sigh.

Yoosung was so loud with excitement. “See! Didn’t I tell you?”

You sat back in the chair and sunk down into it like a child throwing a fit. “Fine, whatever… Still think there are easier ways to get gold.” You grabbed a can of beer, popped it open, and took a good deep swallow.

“I’m a higher level than you!” Yoosung reaches across you towards the computer but either he was too nervous or too excited, his hand knocked the beer out of your grasp. You fumbled to get hold of it, cold beer spilling all over your shirt.

Yoosung gasped and jumped to his feet in utter horror. “Hold on. Hold on, okay, I’ll grab you a towel!” He raced off towards the kitchen and grabbed the first thing he saw.

You set the can down onto the desk and chuckled. “It’s okay… really, Yoosung. It’s not even my favorite shirt.”

He pressed the towel into your chest then jolted away, his entire face turning a deep shade of red. Even his ear wee speckled by the blush.

Yoosung was so cute and bashful! You could barely contain yourself. You felt like your heart might burst inside your chest.

“I can just go wash this out. Could I… borrow your hoodie for a bit?”

“Huh?” His lips parted and then he nodded. “Yes! Of course, let me take it off for you.” Yoosung pulled the large hoodie up over his head, stretching to get his arms out of the fabric. You saw a bit of the tight muscle that lay beneath his shirt.

This wasn’t at all what you imagined would happen during your visit but you weren’t complaining. If getting beer spilled onto your shirt meant more bonding with Yoosung, you’d take it.

You took the hoodie into your arms and sauntered over to the bathroom. You took your shirt off and rinsed it off in the sink, squeezing the water out to help it dry faster. You left it hanging to dry.

You gathered up Yoosung’s hoodie and hugged it’s warmth. God, did he smell good. Beneath the fried chicken was the sweet scent of honey and the vibrancy of citrus. It reminded you so much of his personality. The heat of his blush and the gentleness of his laugh. His voice even had a slight deepness to it that lulled your senses.

You put the heavy hoodie on, feeling it’s weight was like getting a hug from him. You admired yourself in the mirror. His clothes did look good on you...

He was waiting outside, eyes arched under guilt and lips trembling. “I’m sorry! I can buy you a new shirt. I’m so clumsy…”

“Just let me wear this for a bit and we’re even.” Your fingers curled around the long sleeves. “I really like the way it fits.”

Yoosung nodded, a hum in agreement.

You sauntered closer to him. “You like it too?”

He sucked down a breath of air. “Yes. Of course. I mean it’s nice… You look really cute in it.” He clenched his eyes shut. “I probably shouldn’t have said that.”

“Since you think I’m cute, maybe I can wear it more often.”

Yoosung’s eyes opened wide in disbelief. “Y-yeah…”

“I should go study…” You turned away and hopped onto his bed where you threw your backpack earlier. You pulled out the textbook for your next class. You had a test coming up that you sorely needed to get ready for.

Yoosung stared at you as he took a seat at his desk across the room, a little dazed to see you so casually sitting on his bed.

“Is it alright if I study here?”

He gave a few quick nods, averting his attention towards his computer. “I haven’t had guests over and I guess I never really thought I would. I always assumed college would be different. I thought I would meet a lot of people if I joined clubs and make friends but…”

“Meeting people online is easier,” you agreed. “Especially when they like the same games as you.” You picked up one of your notebooks. “We could study together. What classes do you have?”

Yoosung grabbed a few of his textbooks and carried them over. “Let me grab my notes too.”

“Okay. Bring my drink over.” You smirked, corner of your mouth quivering. “And try not to spill it on me.”

“I’ll try.” Yoosung softly chuckled. He grabbed his notebooks and the drinks. Everything was piled onto the bed, a mess of scribbled writing and crumpled worksheets. Luckily, you had similar classes and could walk each other through the notes and the vocabulary.

“Yoosung…” You starred at him as he helped you answer all of the questions on the study guide. “You’re really smart… You remembered all of that?”

His brow rose high, not at all understanding what you meant. “Uh, well, I took this same class last semester so…” He laughed, throwing his hand into his hair and raking it nervously. “I’m not that smart or anything.”

You huffed. “You’re pretty damn smart compared to me.”

He shook his head, suddenly annoyed. “Don’t say that. You’re so intelligent. Getting to study with you tonight, really inspired me to get my studying done. You’re more dedicated than me since I started college. I used to be so focused on school when I was in high school but then…” His voice trailed away. You remembered him telling you years ago that someone important to him passed away… You could only assume it was Rika.

You grabbed your can of beer and one for Yoosung. You held it out to him until he finally took hold of it. “Cheers to our bright and uncertain future… but one we hopefully can share.” You clicked your can into his and took a large swallow before he could say anything.

Yoosung took a quick swallow as well, coughing after having sucked it down too fast.

You smirked and set the beer aside. “Okay… back to math?” You took hold of your textbook and pretended to read the page. But you were too busy thinking about Yoosung. You couldn’t get his voice and his laugh out of your mind. And his hoodie still smelled to good you wanted to sink your face into the arms of it.

By the end of the night though, you were slightly drunk and you weren’t even sure if you had actually studied much of anything else. Somehow during the whole thing, you found yourself snuggling a stuffed rabbit and giggling over the simplest things. Yoosung was fairly drunk too. He ended up lying down on his pillows as he read the explanations texts.

At some point, you think you fell asleep beside him...


End file.
